Ministry of Earth Sciences
Long Range Forecast Update for The 2020 Southwest Monsoon Rainfall
Southwest monsoon season  is most likely to be NORMAL )
The season rainfall is likely to be 107% of LPA over North-West India, 103% of LPA over Central India, 102% of LPA over South Peninsula and 96% of LPA over North-East India
Some possibility of development of weak La Niña conditions in the later part of the monsoon season
The India Meteorological Department  here today issued the second stage of Long Range Forecast Update for the 2020 Southwest Monsoon Rainfall. The updated forecast on SW Monsoon was released by Dr. M. Rajeevan, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences and Dr. M. Mohapatra, Director General of IMD at a press conference. Dr. Rajeevan said that overall, the SW Monsoon will be normal or above normal this year. They also announced the onset of SW Monsoon over Kerala as the conditions there met all parameters.
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Background
India Meteorological Department  had issued the first stage operational long-range forecasts for the southwest monsoon season  rainfall over the country as a whole on 15th April. Now, IMD has prepared the updated forecast, which is presented here. In addition, forecasts for the monthly rainfall for July & August over the country as a whole, and forecast for the seasonal rainfall for the 4 broad geographical regions of India  are also presented. The operational forecasts have been prepared based on the state-of-the-art, indigenously developed statistical models.
The update forecast for the southwest monsoon season  rainfall over the country as a whole was prepared using a 6-parameter Statistical Ensemble Forecasting System . The seasonal rainfall over the 4 broad geographical regions and monthly rainfall for the July and August over the country as a whole have been prepared using Principal Component Regression  models with different set of parameters.
Experimental forecast based on the Ministry’s Monsoon Mission Coupled Forecasting System  is also presented. The latest version of the high resolution MMCFS implemented at the Office of Climate Research and Services, IMD, Pune was used for this purpose.
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Sea Surface Temperature Conditions in the Pacific & Indian Oceans
Currently normal sea surface temperatures are observed across most of the equatorial Pacific Ocean. Many atmospheric variables over the region indicate ENSO Neutral to cool ENSO neutral conditions over the region. The latest forecasts from MMCFS & other global models together indicate cool ENSO neutral conditions are likely to prevail during most part of the monsoon season. However, a few other climate models indicate possibility of development of weak La Niña conditions in the later part of the season or thereafter.
At present, Neutral Indian Ocean Dipole  conditions are prevailing over the region. A positive  IOD is associated with a stronger  than normal monsoon. The latest forecasts from global coupled models suggest that these neutral IOD conditions are likely to continue during the monsoon season.
The prevailing and predicted SST conditions over the Pacific and Indian Oceans are favourable for a normal monsoon season.
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Forecasts from the Monsoon Mission Coupled Forecasting System 
The latest experimental forecast based on the MMCFS suggests that there is high probability for the 2020 monsoon season  rainfall to be above normal to excess . Quantitatively, the 2020 monsoon rainfall is likely to be 107% of LPA with a model error of ±4%.
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The second Stage Forecasts for the 2020 Southwest Monsoon Rainfall
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Seasonal  Rainfall over the country as a whole
Quantitatively, the 2020 monsoon season  rainfall for the country as a whole is likely to be 102% of the long period average  with a model error of ±4%. The Long Period Average  rainfall over the country as a whole for the period 1961-2010 is 88 cm.
The 5 category probability forecasts for the Monsoon Season  rainfall over the country as a whole is given below.
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Category
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Rainfall Range

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Forecast Probability 
For 2020 monsoon season
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Climatological
Probability 
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Deficient
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< 90
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5
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16
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Below Normal
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90 - 96
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15
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17
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Normal
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96 -104
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41
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33
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Above Normal
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104 -110
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25
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16
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Excess
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> 110
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14
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17
The probability forecasts suggest a very low probability  for monsoon rainfall to be deficient. On the other hand, it suggests a very high probability for monsoon rainfall to be normal .
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Season  Rainfall over the Broad Geographical Regions
The 2020 monsoon season  rainfall is likely to be 107% of LPA over North-West India, 103% of LPA over Central India, 102% of LPA over South Peninsula, and 96% of LPA over North-East India, all with a model error of ± 8 %. Thus, monsoon rainfall is expected to be spatially well distributed.
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Monthly  Rainfall over the country as a whole
The rainfall over the country as a whole is likely to be 103% of its LPA during July and 97% of LPA during August, both with a model error of ± 9 %.